Genealogy

News about Genealogy, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Jul. 4, 2015

Researchers use genealogy site MyHeritage.com to find direct descendants of Samuel Wilson, upstate New York butcher known locally as Uncle Sam and considered inspiration for national symbol. MORE

May. 10, 2015

Author and humorist A J Jacobs is organizing Global Family Reunion, convention-size reunion emphasizing human interrelatedness; while many celebrities will be in attendance, anyone may attend, and Jacobs hopes to challenge Guinnness World Record for largest family reunion. MORE

Aug. 17, 2014

Raquel Cepeda travel article on trip to Aruba to trace her father's history. MORE

Jun. 11, 2014

Mary O'Connor Ward-Donegan, sister of Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor, reveals that their mother was Jewish; there is no indication that the cardinal, who died in 2000, knew about his lineage; O'Connor was the Catholic Church's top official in New York for 16 years, and was a staunch friend and defender of the Jewish people. MORE

Apr. 6, 2014

Doreen Carvajal travel article describes trip to Segovia, Spain, to explore the roots of her family tree; says that when she learned the fate of the Arias Davilia family, accused by the Inquisition of heresy for hiding a life as Jews, she felt her own identity shatter and shift, changing who she is. MORE

Feb. 13, 2014

Kit Eaton App Smart column notes mobile apps that can help trace ancestry with genealogy research, using an assortment of databases. MORE

Feb. 2, 2014

Op-Ed article by author and editor A J Jacobs notes that the once staid world of genealogy is undergoing a controversial revolution as a handful of Web sites use a collaborative, Wikipedia-like approach to mapping genealogies; observes that many traditional genealogists have reservations about this crowdsourcing trend, and critics point out that such shared family trees are often poorly sourced and packed with errors. MORE

Dec. 15, 2013

Prof Steven Fine and group of students at Yeshiva University in Upper Manhattan are working to decipher 1,600-year-old tombstone that they believe originated in ancient city of Zoar, on Dead Sea, and to identify woman to whom inscription refers. MORE

Nov. 28, 2013

Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of New York, genealogical organization, has rigorous rules for applicants to be recognized as a descendant of one of the 102 settlers who made the voyage in 1620 to Plymouth, Mass; gaining entry to the society is a demanding journey that, for many, ends in disappointment if they cannot prove lineage. MORE

Nov. 17, 2013

Caren Osten Gerszberg travel article on vacation planners and genealogical websites that can help families research their ancestors. MORE

Aug. 18, 2013

Russel Shorto travel article on trip to Sicily, Italy, to trace his family origins. MORE

Oct. 20, 2012

Op-Ed article by writer Judy Bolton-Fasman defends Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren's claim that she is part Native American; contends many American families perpetuate unverifiable stories about their lineage and lore; argues whether Warren's family history is true or not is unimportant, because that self-identity has led her to work on behalf of the marginalized. MORE

Jul. 30, 2012

Ancestry.com team of genealogists say they have evidence strongly suggesting that Pres Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, had at least one African forebear, and that the president is most likely descended from one of the first documented African slaves in the United States, on his mother's side; it had been previously understood that Pres Obama's only black ancestry was on his father's side. MORE

Jun. 17, 2012

DNA research into Michelle Obama's family history has uncovered several distant white relatives, some of whose ancestors owned slaves including the first lady's great-great-great-grandmother; connection underscores the sometimes uncomfortable history of racial intermingling that binds countless American families decades after the Civil War. MORE

Mar. 20, 2012

Actress Wanda Sykes, featured on PBS program Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates Jr, discovers ancestors from the 1680s, a rare discovery for African-Americans once enslaved. MORE

Jan. 24, 2012

Growing number of adoptees are turning to DNA testing companies in seeking clues to their ancestry and connections to blood relatives when access to adoption records is blocked; most are hungry for information that will lead to their birth parents, but some simply want to be able to embrace a far-flung constellation of bloodline relatives. MORE

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